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Community based (main street) fishermen in New England are witnessing fleet consolidation, concentration of fisheries access into the hands of a few, and heavy pulse fishing on inshore areas that are affecting inshore-dependent fishermen and the fish.

The same Wall Street-driven policies that turned our country's farmlands into industrial agriculture are being replicated on the ocean.

The fisheries Council (the governing body that crafts the region’s federal fisheries policy) failed in their promise to fix these problems.

We now turn to John Bullard of NOAA's National Fisheries Management Service (NMFS) to help us right the wrong.

Mr. Bullard has the power, understands the problem, and has the tools. In the past when the Council has failed to defend the public commons it has become the obligation for NMFS to step in.

Fishing communities that include fishermen, processors, fish workers, marketers, seafood eaters and more are working together to maximize the social, environmental, economic, and food system benefits of community based fishermen. Policies designed to consolidate and privatize are blocking this progress. We need John Bullard and Congress to ensure policy safeguards that support this vision!

Yesterday's Action + Press Release

October 1, 2015

Credit for above photo: Shareen Davis Photography 2015

Thank you to so many of you who joined our call to action this week in support of the community based fishermen fighting against the Wall Street takeover of fisheries.

Because of you, our Thunderclap campaign is just shy of reaching 310,000 people, which is awesome. We need 3 more people to reach our goal of 100 people signing up to share the message of family fishermen.

We still have time for folks to join! Ask folks to join our Thunderclap by 8 pm ET tonight. Have you signed up with your Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr? Help our petition reach 500,000 people!

Below is the press release with links to photos and videos from yesterday.

Please stay tuned for next steps, and thank you all for your support of this work.

Community-Based Fishermen Tell Policy-Makers: The System is BrokenDozens testify in front of policymakers to end consolidation and privatization of fisheries

Plymouth, MA: Wearing orange “Who Fishes Matters” t-shirts, fishermen, students, and food system advocates testified yesterday in front of the New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) that the Council’s policy-making process is broken and could result in the end of family fishing and industrialization of the fishing industry. Dozens of fishermen and supporters then walked out of the meeting in protest.

“My son won’t have a chance to follow in my footsteps and my father’s footsteps,” said Jason Jarvis, a lifelong fisherman from Point Judith, Rhode Island. “We need to stop the consolidation and privatization of the fishery before it’s too late.”

Emotional testimonies from fishermen from around the region called the Council to task for maintaining the status quo - that groundfish permits in New England could be controlled by seven entities - while forsaking the community-based fishermen who have been stewards of the resource for generations. “This is bad for the fishermen, the fish, fishing communities, and for those who love and value their local seafood,” said Brett Tolley of the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance.

“Over the past 15 years we have taken conservation measures to bring back the fish. Now, Catch Share policies are undoing all the good we did as fisheries access is concentrating into the hands of just a few players, communities are losing their infrastructure, and in the process, the stocks are decimated,“ says Tim Rider, fisherman from Saco, ME.

In the five years since Catch Shares policy has been implemented in the New England groundfish fishery, the industry has seen further consolidation of the fishing fleet and less access to fishing quota, as well as increased pressure on inshore fishing areas. According to a Council report, last year one entity earned 25% of the total groundfish revenue.

Despite years of testimony from New England fishermen who are feeling the squeeze of the consolidating fishery, the rising costs of leasing quota, and the years of rebuilding efforts gone to waste, the Council has overwhelmingly ignored this input in favor of the status quo. Yesterday’s testimonies and walkout delivered a message to the Council: You can’t continue subverting the public process, ignoring alternatives, and only serving a small group with a vested interest in Catch Shares. We will take back the public process, and we will continue working to prevent this kind of takeover of a public resource and a public process in the future.

Please find detailed timeline and background that led to yesterday’s action here , and videos and photos of yesterday’s action here.

NAMA is a fishermen-led organization working at the intersection of marine conservation and social, economic, and environmental justice. We’re working to build a movement toward a healthy ocean, a just seafood system, and community-based fisheries that are diverse, fair, and equitable for all. More information: www.namanet.org

We're off to a great start!

September 30, 2015

Thanks for all the support! We're almost at 300,000 people!! Share the link if you can to help us reach that number.

In the meanwhile, the room is packed with supporters in Plymouth, Massachusetts to support safeguards that keep Wall Street off the ocean and family fishermen on the water. We'll keep you informed about how things go.